Mediagazer: Antenna: Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, and others struggle to retain US subscribers who joined to watch a hit show or movie; many unsubscribe within a few months (Wall Street Journal)

12:20 AM ET, February 1, 2022

Top News:

The New York Times acquires Wordle, the simple word game that has amassed “millions of daily players”, for “an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures” — Wordle, Josh Wardle's stimulating and wildly popular daily word game, is joining The New York Times's portfolio of original …

Discussion: @powerlanguish, New York Times, New York Times, @marcatracy, Axios, @kevinroose, Variety, Nieman Lab, @katierogers, The Guardian, @karaswisher, The Register, @isaacfitzgerald, Mediaite, Financial Times, Associated Press, Protocol, New York Post, Deadline, Semiotech, @hshaban, @dhchait, Forbes, @wfkars, @xor, @ofirahy, @sherman4949, @scott_tobias, @seanludwig, @helaineolen, @reckless, @nrarmour, @phillyd, @everyteam_mark, @jackmirkinson, @jonnelledge, @aedwardslevy, @benfritz, @byjayking, TechCrunch, @kfury, @shalomgood, Gawker, The Comeback, @starfire2258, @bafeldman, @pjputh, @jasonschreier, @dharmesh, @starfire2258, @jessicalessin, @tonyajoriley, @adambvary, @grahamstarr, @levie, @ditzkoff, @tomcoates, @stshank, @chrisvannini, @jephjacques, CNET, @benadida, @parkermolloy, @manruss, @teroterotero, @dylanmatt, @ellievhall, @jonporty, @sayssimonson, @danlamothe, @jackmirkinson, @dcseifert, @andreawoo, Wall Street Journal, @jonrussell, @sherman4949, The A.V. Club, @maxkennerly, The Verge, @benjysarlin, @christinemhall, 9to5Mac, @sherman4949, @laurenpelley, @edmundlee, @emilybell, @brennacgray, @lpolgreen, @pkafka, @janinegibson, @marcoarment, @farnazfassihi, @daveyalba, @jbflint, @daveleeft, @brianstelter, @maggiekb1, @levie, @damiencave, @sherman4949, @katienotopoulos, @ofirahy, @alexweprin, @by_cjewett, @domdelport, @robertjimison, @reckless, @zackbeauchamp, PC Gamer, @budgetben, @bdsams, @rodger, @levie, @jeremymbarr, @fredsmith914, @ernietedeschi, CNBC, @bombur, The Hollywood Reporter, @rover829, @engadget and @jbflint, more at Techmeme »

Daniel Ek / Spotify:

Spotify publishes its long-standing Platform Rules and says it is working to add a content advisory to podcast episodes that discuss COVID-19 — A decade ago, we created Spotify to enable the work of creators around the world to be heard and enjoyed by listeners around the world.

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, Hollywood Reporter, @mikeisaac, Columbia Journalism Review, Protocol, Variety, @justinjm1, Reuters, Bloomberg, Billboard, The Verge, @spotifynews, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, @sarafischer, @reckless, @eldsjal, @lucas_shaw, Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Information, @caseynewton, @pkafka, Breitbart, @stanphylcap, The Crucial Years, Vanity Fair, @mikeisaac, @shannonrwatts, @loudmouthjulia, Media Matters for America, Ty Burr's Watch List, Complete Music Update, MediaPost, Don't Let It Go, RAIN News, Gawker, @eaton, Bastonate per Posta, Podcast Movement, NBC4 Washington, Music Ally, @dfsparks, @mmasnick, The Why Axis, New York Post, @ericboehlert, Tubefilter, @paulbernaluk, @molly0xfff, @maxnordau, @future_of_music, @shanselman, @aaronhuertas, @texasinafrica, Digital Threat Digest, @intelwire, New York Magazine, The Morning Dispatch, @amlwhere, @darnelsugarfoo, Today in Tabs, Reclaim The Net, Mindless Drivel, Webb Chatham Report, @sabivm, @naveedajamali, insideradio.com, @lethalityjane, NPR, Reason, @willoremus, @lucas_shaw, Rolling Stone, JOMO, TechCrunch, CNET, @karaswisher, @jbflint, @carnage4life, Light Reading, UPROXX, Insider, Bustle, @ruckcohlchez, @davidgura, Top Celebrity News … and @rvawonk, more at Techmeme »

Sam Byford / The Verge:

Joe Rogan posts a video to Instagram defending booking contentious guests, apologizes to Spotify for the backlash, and says he may book more “experts” — 'I'm very sorry that this is happening to them.' — Joe Rogan has issued a response to the ongoing controversy …

Ryan Broderick / Garbage Day:

Spotify made an editorial choice by paying $100M to be Joe Rogan's publisher and can't shirk its responsibility by just adding a content warning to his episodes — Read to the end for Pumpkin Cowboy — Please Do Not Let Spotify Convince You That Joe Rogan Is A Content Moderation Problem

Elahe Izadi / Washington Post:

Capital B, a US local nonprofit news organization focused on Black audiences, launches with $9M in philanthropic backing and 16 employees with plans to hire 11 — Capital B, a new digital-media start-up, will provide hard news and investigative reporting aimed at Black audiences.

Wall Street Journal:

Antenna: Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, and others struggle to retain US subscribers who joined to watch a hit show or movie; many unsubscribe within a few months — Roughly half of U.S. viewers who joined right after ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ were gone in six months, data show

Josh Eidelson / Bloomberg:

The FT's US journalists seek to unionize with the NewsGuild, ask for voluntary recognition from the FT, and say their 40-person unit has over two-thirds support — Journalists at the Financial Times are seeking to unionize the publication's U.S. operation, the latest in a wave of organizing efforts in the news media.

Discussion: @josheidelson, @greenhousenyt, @anastasiakeeley, @demfromct, @bigblackjacobin, @davidgura, @moisenoise, @mshannahmurphy, @josheidelson and @josheidelson

Helen Davidson / The Guardian:

Survey: at least six foreign journalists have left China amid increased intimidation through online trolling, physical assaults, hacking, and visa denials — Report says heightened dangers have prompted at least six to leave and many others to develop emergency exit plans

Discussion: @lotteleicht1, @birgitmschwarz, Bloomberg, BBC and Hong Kong Free Press HKFP

Cassandra Garrison / Reuters:

Univision and Televisa complete their merger and plan to launch the world's biggest Spanish-language streaming service in H1 2022, targeting nearly 600M people — Mexican broadcast powerhouse Grupo Televisa and U.S. based Univision (UVN.UL) are preparing to launch what would be the biggest …

Discussion: Adweek, @jczamora, @brianmmunoz, Variety, Forbes, Next TV, Business Wire, @sarafischer, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, @isalara and @adweek

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

With SCOTUS eager to revisit precedent, Sarah Palin's NYT lawsuit is a serious challenge to the press-friendly standard for libel set by Times vs. Sullivan — But none of these landmark cases are as potentially consequential as Sarah Palin's suit against the New York Times

Discussion: @porter_anderson, @brianlehrer, @matthewschafer, @moiradonegan, @terri_rupar, @stormmela and @sarafischer

Lucas Shaw / Bloomberg:

Sources: Amazon paid $100M+ for exclusive ad and distribution rights to the podcast My Favorite Murder and all other Exactly Right Media shows — Two Canadian folk singers have forced Spotify to do what thousands of angry social media users could not. — Spotify on Sunday outlined a series …

Discussion: @lucas_shaw and @alexanderchee

Richard J. Tofel / Second Rough Draft:

ProPublica's Richard Tofel reflects on 20+ years as a newsroom attorney: preventing cases from being filed, the need for newsroom counsel independence, and more — Reflections on retiring from practice, with gratitude. — Welcome to Second Rough Draft, a newsletter about journalism in our time …

Discussion: American Press Institute

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More News:

Associated Press:
A fourth Mexican journalist, who was enrolled in the government's protection program, has been murdered in less than a month, after killings sparked protests

Discussion: The Guardian, MyNorthwest.com, @martinxhodgson, @ema_sasic and @keegan_hamilton

Alex Weprin / The Hollywood Reporter:
NBCUniversal names Valari Dobson Staab as the chair of its local content division and says NBC's RSNs will launch a direct-to-consumer offering later this year

Discussion: Deadline, Awful Announcing and Barrett Media

Josh Sandiford / BirminghamLive:
UK police seek a court order under the Terrorism Act to reveal sources from a journalist who helped overturn convictions in the 1974 IRA Birmingham bombings

Discussion: The Guardian, The Times, Press Gazette and @lisaocarroll

Sharon Moshavi / International Center for Journalists:
Velocidad, a media accelerator that invested nearly $1.5M in 10 Latin American news outlets, says its grantees generated new revenue over six times their grants

Discussion: @icfj and @icfj

Glen Owen / Daily Mail:
Source: UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries is planning legislation where the DMU force Meta, Google, and others to negotiate payment deals with news publishers

Discussion: The Signal, @lukejohnsonrcp, The i Paper, @benedictevans, @matthewlesh, @benedictevans, The Sun, @s8mb and @benedictevans, more at Techmeme »

Earlier Picks:

William Turvill / Press Gazette:
The Seattle Times says it now has 81,000 digital-only subscribers, up 10% over the past 12 months and almost doubling its 41,000 subscribers in January 2019

Sarah Scire / Nieman Lab:
Pigeon 605, which sells ads and sponsored posts, emails news to 4K of 200K residents in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, based on interest topics users pick

Discussion: Pigeon605

J. Clara Chan / Hollywood Reporter:
Podcast network Lemonada Media, which grew its annual revenue from $1.5M in 2020 to over $5M in 2021 and reaches 2M+ listeners per month, raises an $8M Series A

Reuters:
Meta says it has paused new users from joining its social media tracking tool CrowdTangle as it works “through some staffing constraints”

Discussion: @melissaryan, @jordanguiao and @kevinroose

Stefanie Murray / Center for Cooperative Media:
A look at Ad Lab, which launched last year as an advertising network of 16 independent media organizations in New Jersey with a shared sales representative

Discussion: Nieman Lab

From Techmeme:

Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
FTC bans location data providers Gravy and subsidiary Venntel as well as Mobilewalla from using or selling data related to sensitive locations and more

Gaby Del Valle / The Verge:
The CFPB proposes limiting data brokers' ability to sell Americans' personal and financial info, after the National Public Data breach discovered in April 2024

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:
Nick Clegg says Mark Zuckerberg is keen to play “an active role” in Trump admin tech policy debates and Meta “overdid it a bit” when moderating pandemic content

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